August 26th, 2008

When Bartering Pisses on You

I have been trying to get my business of the ground for a while now. Back in February, when I first realized that I could actually make money designing web sites, I offered my services to anyone who even appeared to need one. An acquaintance is also self-employed and in a field that was very useful to me. He needed a website; I needed his services (and get your mind out of the gutter- I’m a married woman). We decided to exchange services. However, I seemed to have gotten the short end of the stick.

His services are only necessary every six months and do not cost nearly as much as I would charge for a web design. Once he completes his services, I cannot go back and request changes. It is a done deal. And it only takes on day. Web Design, on the other hand, can be a very long and tedious process. And it’s hard to set limits when most people don’t understand the process.

So, the first site that I did was good. Despite the fact that I did not agree with some of the choices he made for the site, I complied because the customer is always right. There were some other minor issues in that he did not get information to me in the alloted timeframe (very bad) and he is somewhat of a know-it-all. But, alas we got things done and I was more than happy to add this job to my portfolio.

Over the course of this time I used his services twice. The first time I was very satisfied. The second time, he kind of pushed me into a direction that I was not 100% comfortable with, but I went with it and was satisfied. The the third time never happened for some reason. When I suggested that we give his site a makeover, he was all too excited to offer his services to me again. That was the first sign of trouble.

Over the next two months and a countless exchange of emails, I realized that this person did not have any real respect for what web design entails. In fact, he was/is very selfish and does not care that I am trying to build a business. I have to market and build some free templates.  Did I mention that I have not used his services again because he keeps flaking out on me? In fact, he has told me that he was going to meet me and has not shown.

Well Monday was the final straw. I received an email asking me to change and already approved site that has been coded, uploaded, and except for a few minor changes, completed. I decided to let him know that I would not be making the changes he requested because he is taking advantage of the situation. What he is asking me to do would be a complete makeover when, after asking 10 times if he liked it, I was told 10 times that it was perfect.

I told him in not-so-nice terms what was on my mind.

Was i wrong?